When FEEA began serving the civilian federal employee community in 1986, the cost of a college education was, on average, less than $20,000/year, including room and board, at the top private universities. Even then, federal families were hard pressed to afford to put themselves or their children through school.
As founding board member and current executive director Steve Bauer remembers, “Just as Pell grants and student loan availability were diminishing, federal agencies’ budgets necessitated cuts in Government Employee Training Act funds. Federal employees found themselves in a poor position to continue their own education and in an even worse place to fund their children’s college tuition. As part of the great middle class and therefore priced out of need-based aid, it was time to establish a merit-based scholarship program for federal employee families.”
With loaned start-up funds, FEEA provided just about $100,000 in scholarships to 131 students in its inaugural scholarship year. Since then, FEEA has depended on Combined Federal Campaign donations to CFC #11185 to fund the scholarship program, ensuring money donated in each part of the country stays there to help local federal families.
Last year, FEEA gave away just over $480,000 in scholarships to 450 federal employees and their dependents. Students are attending community colleges, state universities and Ivy League schools, and are earning everything from associate’s degrees right up to PhDs, MDs and JDs. You can read more about the 2010-11 winners at www.feea.org/profiles.
College costs have skyrocketed and the competition for merit-based scholarships grows more intense each year. And the competition in the CFC has also increased significantly over the years. With thousands of local and national charities competing for funds, gifts to FEEA have stalled at a level that does not allow the program to grow.
Please remember to pledge to FEEA CFC #11185 this fall, and show your support now for FEEA’s 25-year tradition of federal employees helping federal employees by making a donation of $25 or more today. Thanks to a generous grant from the BlueCross/BlueShield Association the first $25,000 in individual donations during this campaign will be matched by BCBS, giving your donation twice the impact. Help FEEA reach its $100,000 goal and sustain the programs that matter most to federal families. Go to www.feea.org today and click the “Give Now” button. Your gift will truly make a difference.
